Stand out from the crowd, and support a good cause at the same time, by sporting this eye-catching water vole mask (see pic above).

The Get InVOLEd mask costs £7.50 with free postage thrown in. Made to order by volunteers from recycled polyester and cotton bed sheets (50-50), it has an endearing water vole logo emblazoned across it. All profits will fund the reintroduction of the animal into the Hogsmill river, where it was last seen in 2014.

The water vole is the fastest declining mammal in the UK: 94 per cent of the species has disappeared. Now Berrylands-based Citizen Zoo is hoping to reverse the trend. It has trained up 60 volunteers who have surveyed the habitat along the Hogsmill (which runs from its source – chalk beds in Ewell) through Tolworth, Berrylands and Surbiton to join the Thames at Kingston. They have identified potential and suitable habitats for the water voles.

Elliot Newton, head of conservation at the rewilding group (pictured second from left), said: “Water voles are an absolutely beautiful, charismatic creature – to my mind at least! I think they have a very special place in the culture of the UK and have given the hedgehog a pretty good run for its money when it comes to the favourite mammal we have! It’s a truly fantastic species.”

Elliot said water voles have lots of ecological functions, such as being seed dispersers and creators of bank habitat.

“Most importantly, they can demonstrate the ecological health of the river.”

Elliot, who is also the biodiversity officer at Kingston Council, said at the end of the month, Citizen Zoo would be launching a fundraiser to buy voles from a specialist breeder in Devon. The money raised from the masks would also go into the pot.

“Things have been slightly delayed with Covid so we are looking to do our release in spring 2022,” he added.

To find out more about the water vole project click here and to buy a face mask click here.